


Appreciation of art

by mckvch (RaiseYourVoice)



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Art museum, Bad Pick-Up Lines, Bad Puns, First Kiss, Flirting, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Security Guard Raphael, awkward Simon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-04
Updated: 2017-05-20
Packaged: 2018-08-29 00:43:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8469250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RaiseYourVoice/pseuds/mckvch
Summary: He managed to sit on the bench for at least ten minutes before his phone was in his hand and he started browsing Twitter for anything entertaining before updating his account with a Clary abandoned me in the art museum once again message with a sad emoji before he decided to take a silly selfie for Instagram to kill some more time. Just when he took the photo and the camera sound went off - of course, he forgot to mute his damn phone when he went into the museum, fuck - a shadow fell on his form.





	1. Chapter 1

Simon wondered why he had agreed to accompany Clary to the art museum because every time he did come here, he ended up alone in a room filled with art he didn't understand for the life of him. His best friend had the tendency to forget about his presence when art was around and she simply managed to wander off during their visits to the museum. Maybe Simon's attention spam was to blame as well because at some point he always stopped paying attention if Clary was still around.

They were best friends, yes, but they were ridiculously good at losing each other in a damn museum. The first times this happened Simon always search the museum until he found Clary but by now he gave up on this and simply wandered back into the lobby to wait until his best friend showed up after her tour of the museum.

It was admittedly boring to just sit there on a bench next to a weird painting that looked like the artist had to sneeze and accidentally smudged his brush against the canvas in the process. The colours only seemed to undermine Simon's theory and he scrunched up his nose at the disgusting image building in his head.

He managed to sit on the bench for at least ten minutes before his phone was in his hand and he started browsing Twitter for anything entertaining before updating his account with a _Clary abandoned me in the art museum once again_ message with a sad emoji before he decided to take a silly selfie for Instagram to kill some more time. Just when he took the photo and the camera sound went off - of course, he forgot to mute his damn phone when he went into the museum, _fuck_ \- a shadow fell on his form.

"Please don't take pictures of the artwork," the owner of said shadow said with a slightly raspy but smooth voice and Simon knew he gaped when he lifted his gaze but he was confronted with the probably most glorious sight in the history of ever. Every piece in this museum immediately paled next to the gorgeous man looming above him. Judging by the uniform, the guy was probably one of the guards and Simon had to force his mind back to the situation - accusation! - at hand.

"Uh," he started explaining himself in the eloquent way only a student of the brilliantly boring studies of accounting could master, "I wasn't. I was just...taking a selfie."

Simon felt his cheeks heat up because he felt absolutely ridiculous admitting to taking a selfie to this alive replica of a Greek god but it was probably better than getting in trouble for something I didn't do. The guard - _R. Santiago_ , the nameplate pinned to his broad chest supplied - cocked his head the tiniest bit and frowned slightly, the corners of his very inviting looking lips curling into the hint of a smirk.

"Oh, I know," he commented without hesitation and Simon could swear the guy actually _winked_ at him before turning on his heels and disappearing as quickly as he had shown up. Simon blinked, wide-eyed and with way too hot cheeks that only grew warmer with the realisation that the gorgeous guard had just basically called him an _artwork_. Oh god.

When Clary showed up about half an hour later, she asked Simon if he had caught a cold because of the still lingering rosy tint of his cheeks and her expression went from worried to bewildered when her best friend, instead of complaining about her wandering off alone again, announced that he would gladly accompany her to the museum again next time. Simon even stressed that he would mind if this _next time_ happened _anytime soon_.

His answer to the question if he really felt okay was a simple "I'm perfectly fine and I think I had an epiphany about the appreciation of art" but didn't elaborate on said epiphany. Clary knew better than to question her best friend's motives any further.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt like writing another part of this story and this one contains a flustered, awkward Simon and Raphael...being himself, I guess. He's enjoying this a little too much.  
> Enjoy :)

Apparently, Clary now thought that he had lost his mind and Simon had to admit he had been unusually eager to drag his best friend to the art museum several times in just one month and not even half of the time he had actually managed to get another glimpse at the gorgeous guard who had basically flirted with him this one time.

"Okay, either you tell me what's going on or I'm heading home because as much as I love this exhibition, I think I've seen it enough times in the past weeks to be able to replicate half of the artworks," Clary sighed and stared at her best friend, silently urging him on to just spit it out. Simon scrunched up his nose and he didn't really want to admit that he had wanted to visit the museum so much because of some random, absolutely breathtaking, guy. Whom he had only talked to for maybe a minute. He realised that he might seem like a damn stalker - coming back to the museum all the time to catch a glimpse of this guy and secretly watching him from afar the few times he managed to find the guard.

"Like I said before, I simply learned to appreciate art and I want to learn more about it," Simon explained with a dismissive gesture and he knew this was a really weak excuse, even for him. His best friend raised one of her perfectly shaped eyebrows and crossed her arms in front of her chest, trying to stare him down despite the several inches she was lacking to actually be able to stare down at him.

"Simon, come one. We both know that's not true or if it was, we could just go to a different museum for a change to look at other artworks as well," she suggested and didn't look too surprised when the other's eyes widened and he slapped a hand over his mouth after a slightly too loud "No!" had escaped his lips. Clary's pointed look caused his shoulder to slump in defeat and Simon shrugged helplessly.

"I don't want to visit another exhibition. I like this one. I like this museum."

"A month ago you said you _hated_ this museum," Clary pointed out and Simon tried not to cringe because since when was his best friend so perceptive? She usually didn't pay too much attention to his whining when he was once again dragged to something he didn't care much about. Why had she actually listened this time?

"Either you explain yourself or I'm heading home again," she said with a small frown and Simon bit his bottom lip. He felt horribly awkward about his whole behaviour even without explaining the reason for it to Clary and he actually didn't feel like telling her about his maybe-crush on the guard of the art museum.

Clary took his silence and averted gaze as a no and sighed before placing a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it gently.

"Come on, let's go grab a coffee and maybe you feel like telling me then?" She suggested with a softer voice and a sweet smile, something that would have usually convinced Simon immediately and would cause him to agree without a second thought. But now his gaze involuntarily landed on the building of the museum they were standing in front of and he just couldn't bring himself to leave. Maybe today would be the day he would actually "man up" - seriously, who even came up with this stupid phrase?? Sometimes he thought "woman up" would be way more fitting because the women he knew were so much braver than the men - and have the courage to talk to _Mr. Santiago_ when he saw him.

"Okay, I won't force you do talk to me but just know that you can always tell me whatever is on your mind. I'm still leaving now, though, because I have a project to finish and not really the time to spend half the day in the museum _again_ ," Clary decided with an apologetic smile and she leant onto her tiptoes to brush a soft kiss on Simon's cheek before they hugged goodbye. Simon stared after the short redhead with a wistful sigh and turned around again to stare at the museum.

For a moment he contemplated leaving as well because he was clearly developing an unhealthy obsession here but in the end...he dragged his feet up the few steps and pushed the door open to enter the museum. He was weak, okay? There was just something about this guard that made it impossible for Simon to stay away. The other smirk and velvety voice had burnt themselves into his memory, pulling him back here time and time again.

"You really must be into the art of this exhibition if you're back already. And without your girlfriend for a change," a smooth voice made him jump on his way to the ticket office and Simon turned around, eyes wide because he immediately knew _who_ this voice belonged to.

"Uh, yeah, well...I just really like the pieces?"

"Is that supposed to be a statement? Because it sounded like a question to me. What's your favourite piece, then?" The guard stepped closer, gorgeous as ever, a tiny smirk tugging at the corners of his invitingly full lips and Simon swallowed thickly, tried to ignore the way his heart hammered against his ribs in a frantic rhythm. Yes, he had wanted to talk to the guy again but he was not mentally prepared to do so _right now_.

"Well...uhm...the...the thing...the painting," Simon stuttered and he already felt his cheeks heat up under the intensity of the guard's gaze, his dark brown orbs boring into Simon's widened eyes. He realised his glasses had slipped down, almost to the tip of his nose, but his arms felt frozen by his side and he was unable to push the spectacles back up, even though it was usually one of his many nervous habits.

"The majority of the exhibition consists of paintings - you should know after visiting the museum at least twice a week for a little over a month now," the guy commented and his smirk seemed to grow even wider. He had stopped walking right in front of Simon, standing close enough to be considered _too close_ and Simon was sure he would be able to feel the heat radiating off of the other's body if he was just an inch closer.

"Yeah, I know. Of course, I know!" He laughed nervously and inwardly cursed Clary for not dragging him away from here because, holy shit, this was probably the most embarrassing moment of his life and that was saying something. "I meant a certain painting, of course. The...the Monet?"

"It would be rather weird to have a Monet here, seeing as this exhibition only displays pieces from Expressionism painters and Monet did Impressionism," the guard replied with amusement dancing in his eyes while Simon's blush intensified. He had blurted out the first name that had come to his mind, one of the few he had memorised from all the things Clary always told him, but of course, it had been a shot in the dark. He might be kind of intelligent but he didn't care much about art and had close to no clue about it. He admittedly wasn't even sure what the difference between these art styles was.

"Did I say Monet? I meant Manet!" He was pretty sure there was a painter with this name as well and here was to hoping this one might be a better pick.

"Well, Édouard Manet painted the transition from Realism to Impressionism so he would be just as misplaced in this exhibition as Monet," the other informed him and Simon wished for the ground to just swallow him up because this was beyond mortifying. Why had he thought it was a good idea to try and fool a guard in an art museum into thinking he knew shit about art? Sure, a tiny part of him had thought that working here didn't mean the guy knew much about art but that had been quite the stupid assumption on his part.

"So, you came here so often and clearly have no clue about art at all. I'm assuming your girlfriend is the one who's into art."

It wasn't even a question but just a statement and only now did Simon catch up on the fact that the guard had called Clary his girlfriend for the second time already. His arms suddenly unfroze and flailed awkwardly.

"She's not my girlfriend! Best friend, not girlfriend!" Simon almost squeaked and resisted the urge to bury his face in his hands afterwards because this couldn't even become more embarrassing at this point. The guard raised his expressive eyebrows and snorted in amusement, motioning towards the entrance to the exhibition.

"Come on, I can show you around and actually teach you a little something about art so you might come here for the paintings in the future instead of ogling the staff," the guy said and Simon was sure his face was about to explode any minute now because his cheeks were glowing with embarrassment by now. Not only had the guy noticed his frequent visits lately but he had also caught Simon staring at him? Now was a perfect time for a black hole to pop up and suck him in!

"I didn't--I haven't--How did you--"

"I'm a security guard - it's my job to notice suspicious behaviour," he replied smoothly before nodding in the direction of the doorway that led to the exhibition, silently asking if Simon took his offers tour or not. He was really tempted to come up with an excuse to leave and never come back after all of this but he still ended up nodding because it was impossible to say no to this beautiful face.

"I didn't pay yet and...I don't even know your name?"

"The owner is my best friend, I'm sure he won't go bankrupt if you don't pay this once and you have already left enough money with us this past month," the guards replied with a shrug, clearly unbothered, and he started walking towards the entrance. "And the name's Raphael, by the way."

"I'm Simon. Simon Lewis," he replied with wide eyes, stumbling over his own feet in his rush to follow Raphael and tried to not end up staring the other's broad shoulders or slim waist. Fuck, this guy was seriously a work of art.

"And you're wrong, by the way. There is at least one work of Impressionism in this museum that I have been here for - I mean, look at you, if that's not impressive, I don't know what is."

The laughter that rang through the hallway was definitely worth blurting out such a horrible pick up line and the fact that Raphael seemed thoroughly amused made Simon's heartbeat speed up again and he didn't get rid of the red tinge of his cheeks for the rest of the day but that was perfectly fine with him for once.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, a third chapter, because I felt like writing more to wrap this story up a little :)

“What does an artist say when they’re not sure about which pencil blackness to choose?” Simon looked up at the security guard from the bench in the museum he was sat on while Raphael was standing next to it, leant against the wall with his arms crossed in front of his chest and watching the visitors currently inspecting some of the exhibited artworks. “ _2B or not 2B?_ ”

“You’re terrible,” Raphael muttered but Simon was damn sure that he saw the corner of the other’s mouth twitch a little and his own mouth curled into a grin because it would never not be fun to watch Raphael try to stay serious or pretend to be annoyed by his jokes while he was clearly fighting off a smile or grin. That view alone was worth coming to the museum all the damn time - especially now that he didn’t have to pay admission for coming here anymore, thanks to the fact that Raphael’s best friend was the owner of the art museum.

“Come on, you think I’m charming, just admit it,” Simon replied, smiling up at the other man who purposefully didn’t look at him and schooled his face into a blank expression that only caused Simon to chuckle in amusement.

“Do you know what kind of shoe artists prefer to wear?”

“I’m pretty sure I don’t _want_ to know but you’re probably going to tell me anyway,” the security guards sighed but finally glanced at Simon from the corner of his eyes and he smiled up at Raphael as sweetly as possible, his heart skipping a beat like always when these dark orbs were directed towards him.

“Yes, I will enlighten you. They love _Skechers_ , of course!”

“Your sense of humour is the worst.”

Simon would probably be offended if he hadn’t caught the slightest hint of amusement in the other’s voice, realising that Raphael was only teasing him. Not that he didn’t already know that Raphael apparently didn’t mind his puntastic kind of humour as much as he pretended to because otherwise he probably wouldn’t let Simon into the museum for free to keep him company every time.

“I know you love my sense of humour, stop trying to deny it!” Simon pointed at the guard and this time Raphael didn’t hide the amusement dancing in his beautiful dark eyes, his sharp features softening a little and there was nothing Simon wanted to do more than grab this handsome face and kiss him stupid. The urge to be closer to Raphael grew stronger every time he saw the other man and all this playful, teasing flirting did not help the matter at all. Simon simply was too chicken shit to actually act on it because there was this little voice in the back of his head still telling him that there was no way Raphael was seriously interested in him.

“Come on, I have to make my last round before we close, make sure everyone leaves,” Raphael changed the topic easily, motioning for him to get on his feet and Simon happily jumped up from the bench to follow the other man. On their way through the art museum they also crossed ways with Ragnor, one of the other security guards, who simply greeted them with a “He’s here _again_?!” and Simon felt his cheeks heat up because it was a little bit embarrassing that everyone seemed to be aware of the frequency of his visits here by now.

 

“I just remembered another one!” Simon declared about half an hour later when the museum was closed and they just left through the front door, Raphael locking the door behind them. “What was Salvador Dali’s favourite breakfast food?”

“Are you sure you’re studying accounting and not just spending all of your time memorising bad joke books?” Raphael sighed but he still paused and waited for Simon to finish his stupid joke instead of continuing on his way to leave his workplace, looking at the other with a raised eyebrow.

“My jokes are amazing and you obviously have no sense of humour because you can never answer these things,” Simon complained and jutted his bottom lip out for a brief moment to pout at the other man before he decided to tell Raphael the answer anyway, “Okay, so, Dali’s favourite breakfast food are _surreal_ , of course! Get it? Because--”

Simon didn’t get to even start his explanation because Raphael groaned softly, disbelieving, before suddenly stepping into his personal space and silenced him by gently pressing their lips together. Simon made a surprised sound and his back bumped into one of the pillars at the front of the building, his heart leaping into his throat, thumping frantically when he realised what was actually happening.

Raphael was just about to pull back again when Simon finally managed to react by curling his fingers into the side of the other’s work jacket, tugging him closer and reciprocating the kiss a little too eagerly. Raphael’s lips were amazingly soft and Simon felt like he was melting into this gentle first contact of their mouths. His eyelids fluttered close on their own accord and the tingling feeling in his stomach was more intense than ever.

Simon was just about to part his lips and silently ask Raphael to deepen the kiss some more when a soft gasp could be heard from a few feet away and the two men unwillingly ended the way too short kiss. He still felt a little bit breathless, even if the contact hadn’t lasted long enough for that to be reasonable.

“So _that’s_ why you alway wanted to go to the art museum!” Clary’s cheeks were a little pink from embarrassment but she placed her hands on her hips and looked at her best friend with this “you have some explaining to do” expression that Simon knew perfectly well from his mother.

“Uhm...what are you doing here?” Simon’s cheeks felt hot, his heart still racing, while Raphael looked pretty much unimpressed and a little bit annoyed by the interruption but he didn’t comment on it.

“We were supposed to meet up at seven but you weren’t at home when I came by - your mother said you went to the museum again so I came here, obviously. Well, at least now I know why you suddenly developed such an interest in visiting the museum all the time.”

“Yeah, uh...sorry I didn’t tell you,” Simon muttered, sheepishly, and glanced at Raphael whose eyes softened a little when meeting his gaze and Simon would have loved to just close the distance between them again for another kiss but he resisted to give in to the urge.

“It’s okay, you can tell me the whole story later and I’m sorry for the interruption but I really need to borrow Simon now, he promised to help me with my art project,” Clary said, addressing Raphael now who didn’t exactly look too happy but that was basically his default expression with most people. Simon didn’t exactly feel like saying goodbye to the security guard already, especially not now right after their first kiss, but he had promised Clary to help her with this weeks ago and after forgetting about it, he didn’t want to be an asshole about it and cancel it now.

“Okay, I’ll...be right with you and we can head to my place,” Simon sighed and Clary raised her eyebrows but she nodded before fortunately getting the hint and stepping away again to give them a moment of privacy.

“Sorry for that,” he muttered, sheepishly looking at Raphael who stepped back into his personal space now that Clary was out of sight again.

“Don’t worry about,” the security guard replied and brushed a feathery kiss against Simon’s lips, causing his heart to flutter and his mouth to curve into a smile. “As you already know, I have two weeks off starting next week - how about we spend some time outside of the museum for a change?”

“Mr Santiago, are you asking me out on a date?”

Raphael rolled his eyes but still huffed out a laugh anyway and raised his hand to place it on Simon’s cheek, the pad of his thumb softly pressing against his cheekbone before leaning in for another short kiss. “How about you answer my question?”

“Yeah, okay, yes, I would love that,” he answered a little breathlessly, still amazed about the fact that Raphael clearly was interested in him and obviously seemed to enjoy kissing him which was something Simon definitely approved of. Very much so. Sadly, there was not the time for more kisses and after another gentle press of lips, Raphael asked him for his number before they finally said their goodbyes.

The way home with Clary was already filled with quite a few questions and Simon would feel offended by her comment about Raphael not seeming like someone who would tolerate his silly puns but he was still way too giddy with the memory of the guard’s lips against his and the promise of an imminent date.

**Author's Note:**

> [This](https://twitter.com/WowSoPunny/status/794375419344601097) tweet is to blame for the idea!


End file.
